Nowhere Safe
by potatobookworm
Summary: AU - When Clary, a teenager, becomes a victim of cyber-bullies, she and her mother move to a new place. However, her traumatic past haunts their lives. Starting over at a new school, romantic interests and the poignant lessons from an eccentric history teacher draw them out of seclusion until they realize confronting a hurtful past is essential to ensure a brighter future.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Some characters are going to be out of character here, so please don't hate me for that. I love them all as much as you do. This an AU story so none of them are shadowhunters or anything related to the shadow world. Please review and give me your views on this, I would love to get suggestions from you guys. So keep reading!  
Summary - AU - When Clary, a teenager, becomes a victim of cyber-bullies, she and her mother move to a new place. However, her traumatic past haunts their lives. Starting over at a new school, romantic interests and the poignant lessons from an eccentric history teacher draw them out of seclusion until they realize confronting a hurtful past is essential to ensure a brighter future.**

CLARY

We had left in the middle of the night, so that no one would notice. Mum had found a job at a school in a town a few hours away. She didn't want to leave the old school in the middle of the year, but the brick that came in through the window had been the last straw. It had missed me by inches, and mum had finally agreed that it was no longer safe to stay there. We left it all that night – the school where everything had gone wrong for me, my supposed 'friends', the graffiti all over our door and front yard, the place where I had tried to kill myself. And yet I wasn't relieved. They could follow me to the new place; they could ruin me there too. I had told mum that it wasn't far enough, but it was the only place she could find a job in the middle of the year. Those memories were going to haunt me my entire life, she said, whether I ran a hundred miles away or a thousand. And deep down, I know she was right. But when we finally reached, I did not feel free. I felt more caged, more controlled than when I had been there. Because they had got what they wanted, I had given in to them even though I was the one who was right, even though I had done nothing wrong.

When I slept, even though I was in a new pace where they couldn't have found me so soon, I kept imagining them outside leering, throwing stones with letters full of hate through the window. I jumped up at the smallest noises; the wind whistling outside sounded like their insults, the doors creaking reminded me of the times they'd tried to sneak into our house. I couldn't get a proper night's sleep, but there was no school the next day so I wasn't bothered. I didn't have to face that the next day itself – a new school, new people who didn't know what happened to me, who hopefully wouldn't judge me. I had made a vow to remain "under the radar" and not get noticed here, because the last time I had got noticed, it had ruined my life. If it made me look like a loner then fine, it was way better than what Helen and Aline had done to me. So this was going to be all work and no play for me – no friends, no boyfriends, and most of all, no drama.

We had unpacked and set up everything that night itself, so there was no need to do anything in the morning. I stayed inside all day, watching movies with my mum until she absolutely had some work to complete. Then I unpacked my laptop, for the first time in weeks, and opened up a word document. The cursor was blinking at me, daring me to do it. I had come to this point three times since the INCIDENT, but I had never gone further. I just didn't have the guts, and I had finally left everything behind, there was no sense in me posting this and starting the whole thing again. I shut it down with a sigh.

I put up the picture of me and mum right next to the table, where I could always see it. It was before the whole thing started, when we were all happy and Helen hadn't auditioned for that part yet.

Mum had tried to get me to take drama in the new school, but I refused. I told her that I didn't have time for it in my busy schedule, bit I think she knew the real reason why. The truth was that I couldn't bear to ever take drama again, after all that had happened. After I had seen what a girl would do just for the lead. Like mum said, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." And that was what had happened – What Helen did to me was worse than anything in hell – and all for the lead part in a Shakespeare play. If I had known what was going to happen, I would have given her the part with no hesitation. But I hadn't known.

 **A/N: So how was it? This is a pretty short chapter but it's only the beginning. Tell me if you like it and if it's worth -continuing! For all of you that don't know, Nowhere Safe is a movie about cyber bullying. You can go check it out if you like, it's pretty nice. Please review and tell me whatever you feel is good or should be changed! I might use your suggestions.**

 **Thanks for reading!  
-ExterminateTheButterflies**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys! A big thank you to all of you that are reading this story, it means a lot to me. Again, please review if you have anything to say about this. So here's the second chapter!**

 **Summary - AU - When Clary, a teenager, becomes a victim of cyber-bullies, she and her mother move to a new place. However, her traumatic past haunts their lives. Starting over at a new school, romantic interests and the poignant lessons from an eccentric history teacher draw them out of seclusion until they realize confronting a hurtful past is essential to ensure a brighter future.** CLARY

I wake up that Monday reluctantly. The day before had been the best one I'd had in months – no one outside the window, yelling at me and calling me things that left me in tears for hours. It was going to be my first day at a new school – and I didn't know what would happen.  
"Clary! We're going to be late!" Mum yells from the kitchen.  
"I'm coming!" I yell back, and quickly put on my hoodie and run out.  
Mum looks at me. "Are you sure you don't want to wear something a little nicer?"  
I sigh inside my head. "No mum, I don't."  
She sighs too. "Okay. You ready?" she smiles at me, one of those encouraging sighs.  
"Sure," I say with a forced smile on my face. The truth is, I'm not ready. Not ready to start a new chapter of my life here, not ready to act like someone I'm not.  
She sees through it. "It's going to be fine."  
I put on that smile again. "Yeah. It's just another school."  
She comes and hugs me. "I love you okay?"  
-

"Okay stop. This is close enough."  
"What, here?"  
We're in the car, and I can just see the school coming up at the top of the slope. I don't want to be seen around with mum, don't want anyone to know that she's my mother. That was also part of the reason I didn't take drama. I didn't want to be known as 'that girl', the teacher's pet just because she was her daughter. I was going to try and act like I didn't know her at all, for as much time as possible. She knew that, and she had agreed too. None of us wanted a repeat of the last year.  
"Clary, that's a bit extreme." To be fair she's right. We're almost a quarter mile away from the school. But I had to take extreme measures.  
"Mom, it's not worth the risk okay?"  
She gives me THAT LOOK.  
I slam the door and get out. The only person in a twenty mile radius who knows me, and I'm fighting with her too. Great. Just great. I walk up the slope.

JOCELYN

I drop Clary off where she wanted to get off. I wasn't going to argue with her on her first day at a new school, and especially not after what she'd been through. I did think what she was doing was a little bit too much, but it just wasn't worth the risk, like she said. I pull into the teachers' parking.  
A rusty red and white van pulls into the next spot. I'm taking out my bag from the car when I see the man who steps out of it. He doesn't seem to notice me, but I can't take my eyes off him. He's wearing a long faded white t shirt with a loose brown sleeveless jacket. And to top off the queerness, I could swear that he's muttering something like fights and death. Is this what all the teachers at this school are going to be like?  
I decide to let off judging him, and try to get to know him a little, maybe get to know someone here.  
"Hello," I say. He ignores me, or is possibly too lost in his own world to hear me.  
I try again. "Here, you dropped this," I say, picking up a bag that fell from the enormous black garbage bag he was carrying.  
He looks at me strangely. "Thanks," he says, and then walks away. And this time I was sure he was muttering 'a fight to the death' and I caught a 'kill 'em all' too. Huh. People are weird. But I liked him.

CLARY

I'm walking up the slope, hands in my pockets, looking down, and thinking about what I would do if someone there knew about the page. That was all I did now, wondering whether the next person I would meet would call me names. I almost don't see the red jeep heading right for me. I stop. In the middle of the road. The guy in the driver's seat looks at me like who is this idiot, and his girlfriend or whatever next to him gives me a look worse than that. Like her eyes are sending me a message – you're a loser, and don't belong here. The guy honks. I can feel the tears welling up in my eyes. "Want to move?" I snap out of it and move to one side. As they drive away, the girl leans out of the open side and says, "Nice hoodie!" with that smile on her face. The pitying one. I do not want pity. I do not _need_ pity. I wipe all traces of the tears from my eyes and walk away.  
As I reach the parking lot, I hear a swear, and a bunch of papers fall down. I'm walking away, as I don't want to do anything I don't need to, when I look up and see another guy there. Not the kind that I just saw, the so called 'popular' one. He looks like one of the nice ones, the ones who everyone bullies, and yet is always ready to help. I bend down and help him pick up the papers. He looks at me with a surprised look. "Oh. Thanks?" I nod to him and walk to the school.

 **A/N: So how was that guys? Please please review and tell me. It would make my day. Thanks to everyone who followed and favorited this story! I don't generally update so soon, so don't get your hopes up! Also please tell me whether you prefer this tense or you want it in past. I'm fine with both.**

 **Thanks for reading!  
-ExterminateTheButterflies**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So this is chapter 3. Hope you like it! A lot of things about this chapter might seem very weird, but they're the best I could do. Also for the sake of this story, let's just say that Jace isn't related to Alec or Isabelle, but Alec and Izzy are still siblings. You'll understand why when you read this chapter. Also like I said before, a lot of characters are OOC, so please don't hate me if you don't like what a character is like in this fic.  
RaluckxY – you're wrong about most of them. Stick around to find out…. You'll figure out most of it in this chapter itself.**

 **Summary - AU - When Clary, a teenager, becomes a victim of cyber-bullies, she and her mother move to a new place. However, her traumatic past haunts their lives. Starting over at a new school, romantic interests and the poignant lessons from an eccentric history teacher draw them out of seclusion until they realize confronting a hurtful past is essential to ensure a brighter future.**

JOCELYN

I'm with the head of the school, Jia Penhallow. She's finished showing me around and now we're in the auditorium/theatre, which is bigger than any of those of the schools I've worked before.  
"Mr Wayland used to work out here, so I hope this is okay for you as well, Mrs Fairchild?"  
Mr Wayland was the previous drama teacher, who died and vacated this post for me. "Sure," I answer, because I usually spent most of my time there.  
"Thank goodness, because we don't have any extra office space."  
I'm still marvelling at the size and grandness of the place. It has a beautifully carved ceiling, and intricately decorated pillars. It looks like something out of an actual fairy tale.  
"Okay. So you have your first hour off, then class in the second hour and fourth hour, then lunch, and then class in you sixth hour."  
I take in a breath. This is going to be a good day. "Okay," I say, smiling at Jia.  
"I have to get back to my office. If you need anything, come to me ok?"  
"Sure."

Then I hear this clanging sound. I look outside the door and see the same guy I helped out before. He seems to have dropped his garbage bag, and is letting out a string of swear words.  
"Who….?"  
" _That_ ," she says with distaste, "Is Mr. Graymark."  
"What does he teach? What is he…?"  
"Don't even get me started. He's _supposed_ to be the history teacher, but he does everything but teach. Anyways, I really need to get going now. Stop by in the afternoon?"  
"Umm, sure!" I say, not at all sure as to what I was supposed to say to that.  
She leaves, and I'm left there again to marvel at the beauty of the theatre.

CLARY  
I'm in the halls, and trying to navigate through the crowd of people standing in groups there. I manage to get to my supposed locker by pushing and shoving them all. I realize how clueless I look – wandering around with a sheet of paper in my hand, and how much attention I'm attracting. I pull my hoodie lower over my face.  
I reach my locker and put in the combination, but it doesn't open. I try again. It still doesn't open. I panic. What if someone here knew me, and did this to spite me? What if what happened back home happened here too?  
I'm still panicking when the guy I helped earlier comes up to me. "They're all like this – cursed. They never open."  
It takes me a moment to realise that he's talking about the lockers. "Oh yeah?" I reply, trying to get the conversation over as fast as possible. I don't want to socialise unless it is absolutely needed.  
He takes the paper with the combination written on it from me. "Here, this is how you do it," he says, and then turns the dial really slowly to 13, then to 31 and then back to 17. It opens with a click. "The trick is to do it so slowly that you can hear the sound it makes every time it turns."  
"Um, thanks."  
"No problem. I'm – "  
He is just telling me his name when a huge guy comes and thumps him on the back, really hard. "What's up, weenie? Talking to a _GIRL_? Hasn't she run away yet? You know, after smelling that horrible female cologne you've put?" He laughs.  
"Don't do that, Alec! I've told you, I have problems!" He tries to reply with confidence, but it comes out more like a squeak.  
"Aww, does Simony darling want his mommy?" He laughs and then walks away, leaving me with a very embarrassed boy. Then the bell rings and I have an actual excuse to leave. I bolt down the corridor, even though I don't know where to go.

CLARY

The first class, Math, goes by fine, except the teacher, Mr Starkweather, makes me stand and introduce myself. "My name is Clarissa Morgenstern," I say, looking for any sign of recognition in anyone's eyes. But all I see is bored teenagers. Anyways, if someone knew me, it would me as Clarissa Fairchild, not Morgenstern. The rest of the classes go by too, the same way, with some teachers asking me what I've covered in those subjects so far, and some just ignoring me altogether. That was fine by me.  
Then comes History.  
_

CLARY

I walk into History. Instantly I realize that this isn't a normal class. All the walls were covered with tapestries right from the ceiling to the floor. The class has props and mannequins and everything you'd usually see in a drama class, except they're all extremely old fashioned. They're lining the walls of the room, leaving barely any space for the desks. The windows are all covered by the tapestries, so there is no light except for the dim yellow bulbs that are randomly located on the walls. Most of the tapestries are red, and along with the dim yellow lights, they are giving the room an eerie sort of feel. There's even a real piano in one desks are in the little place left after all the tapestries, in a circle facing the centre. I don't see a teacher, but everyone finds this normal. I choose a desk and sit down. I see the boy who helped me out, and the boy who came and thumped him, Alec. I also see the couple from the jeep. The guy looks at me and tells his girlfriend, in a voice extremely audible to me, "Hey look, it's the girl from before." The girl doesn't even look up from whatever she's doing with her nails and gives out a 'whatever'. Everyone seems to be pretty relaxed, which makes me sure that this teacher is a good one, or at least not a _normal_ one. In any case, I hadn't seen such a classroom before.  
"ROMANS!"  
I jump up in shock. What I thought was another mannequin behind me, was actually alive, and my teacher.  
"Did you see how high she jumped?" I hear Alec say, and the couple from the jeep laugh. I ignore them.  
I see the teacher. He's definitely not normal. He's dressed like a roman gladiator, complete with the armour, a sword, gauntlets, helmet and even a cape. He steps into the middle of the classroom, inside the circle of benches.  
"Good morning class. Ancient Rome was one of the most powerful, most technologically advanced societies in the world. Also – " and he pointed his sword towards one of the guys, "one of the most violent. Yeah. Now, can someone tell me what the Coliseum was?" and he turned slowly, sword still outstretched. I answered in my head. I had no desire to answer in class all the time, and give people another chance to attack me.  
"Oh!" the girl sitting on the other side of Alec raised her hand. "My parents saw it on a cruise they went on last year."  
"Awesome! But what was it?" The teacher, Mr Graymark pointed his sword at her.  
The girl opened her mouth, and then shut it, her face colouring.  
"Awesome." The was scattered laughter in the class.  
"Umm – "An Asian girl raises her hand. She's clearly a foreign exchange student. She has a dictionary in her hand, and she squints at it to read something.  
"Coli-seum. An Amphi-theatre in Rome." I manage to figure out what she's saying, but barely, because her accent is so heavy.  
"Yeah! Jade scores! Thank you Jade. Now, the coliseum was an amazing piece of architecture in Rome. It was where you got all your entertainment. Now, let's say you wanted to see two warriors fight."  
"Yeah!" Alec, who had been making faces the whole time, sat up straighter, looking interested.  
"Where would you sit?" Mr Graymark points his sword to Alec.  
He laughs. "Sitting? I'd be fighting." And he flexes his muscles in what he thinks is impressive, except he's grunting and looks and sounds like a polar bear doing push ups. I smirk.  
"Okay," Mr Graymark is clearly not as impressed as most of the girls, who're sighing. "What about you, Jace?" and he points to the guy from the Jeep. So that's his name.  
"Wherever the emperor sat." He shrugs.  
"Okay," Mr Graymark's face holds the same expression as it did before. Unimpressed. I hold back the urge to smirk. "Isabelle?" that's Mr Popular's girlfriend.  
"Guess that makes me queen? Or Emperoress." I want to punch her for saying Emperoress. Clearly, looks aren't everything. I look at her boyfriend, and I see a flicker of something like disgust go over his face. But it's gone in a second, and he hugs Isabelle. Maybe I imagined it.  
I shift my attention back to the teacher. He's pointing to Alec again, who seems to have said that he'd kick someone's butt. "As a gladiator, you'd have many opponents to fight without doing that."  
"Then I would." He shrugs. This makes me smirk again, for no apparent reason.  
"Yeah, with one big difference," I mutter under my breath, loud enough for only me to hear. But the teacher seems to have the senses of a wolf. He whirls around and points the sword at me. "What was that?"  
"Um, nothing?" I try. He doesn't give up.  
"No, you said something. What's the difference?" I sigh. He isn't going to let this pass. I see the dumb chick smirk.  
"Well, they fought to the death."  
"That's right. They fought to the death because they were the lowest class." I see Alec start. "They were all the slaves, prisoners of war, criminals. That kind. They had no choice - fight, and stand a chance of living, or just die. People gathered in the coliseum and flocked to see others suffer and die. You might say we've changed, but the truth is, violence, is as much a part of our society today as it was then. We might not kill people for entertainment anymore, but we do flock to death and suffering."  
"Have you ever pulled over to the side of the road to see an accident? When someone's house catches on fire, why is it that we start taking pictures to post online? You ever leave a negative comment online, or spread a rumor for everyone to see?" I suddenly become very uncomfortable. Does he know what happened? I see his eyes settle on me, and I hear the voices again. _You betrayed me…. I thought you were my friend… stay away from me, freak….. nobody wants you here…_ I'm in a trance for what seems like 10 minutes, but is actually just 2 or 3 seconds. I snap out of it. Nobody here knows. I'm just being paranoid. I comfort myself and turn my attention back to Mr Graymark.  
"….I know we talk about the Romans and how they really delighted in the bloodshed, but I think the real question today for us here is this... Why do we take so much delight in watching other people suffer? History is always  
in the making. What will your history be?"  
I see Jace and some of his friends silently repeat the last line. Nobody seemed surprised by the completely philosophical turn that the lesson had taken, so that meant that most of the lessons were like this. This was going to be an interesting class.  
I pick up my stuff, and am leaving when Alec crashes into me. Intentionally. "Watch it!" he growls, and leaves. I sigh. I'm not ready for this to start again.  
"Here." The boy I'd helped earlier gives me the papers that fell out of my book. I manage a thank you as a response.  
"I'm Simon." So that was his name.  
"Clary."  
"What's your next class?"  
I look at my time table. "Spanish."  
"Cool. I have drama. The previous teacher died, so there's going to be a new teacher today."  
I don't want to let on that she's my mother, so I look at my watch, mutter a hurried apology and rush out. I see him looking after me, confused.

JOCELYN

My classes go by well enough, until I get to the one in the sixth period. This was Clary's grade, and if she'd taked drama, she would've been here now, and I'd instantly have a better time. The kids are all disinterested – one is dozing off, another is texting, two of them are KISSING each other, and one girl is actually painting her nails.  
"Okay, so I'm your new drama teacher, Ms Jocelyn Fairchild." No response. I try again.  
"Can anyone tell me what you've been doing in class earlier? What play are you'll performing? Has the casting been done yet? Anyone?"  
A boy sitting in the middle row with his laptop out hands me his copy of a book – Twelfth Night. I sigh in relief that at least one person here might be willing to help me.

 **A/N: Hey! How did you like it? Thank you to all of you who're following or have favorited this story, but please please review too. It would make my day. So this is a pretty long chapter, and I've updated quite late, but this is probably how frequent my updates will be. Keep reading!**

 **-ExterminateTheButterflies**


	4. Chapter 4

***SMALL ERROR, UPDATED*  
To sophiecampbellbower – No, Magnus won't be like that, don't worry. He actually doesn't really have that much of a role in this fic. And I actually love Alec 10 times more than any other characters, and I hated making him like this, but I can't help it. But he MIGHT change…. Stick around and find out…..  
Summary - AU - When Clary, a teenager, becomes a victim of cyber-bullies, she and her mother move to a new place. However, her traumatic past haunts their lives. Starting over at a new school, romantic interests and the poignant lessons from an eccentric history teacher draw them out of seclusion until they realize confronting a hurtful past is essential to ensure a brighter future.**

CLARY

I'm home, after a long first day. There had been no "incident" today, so I wasn't worried anymore about everyone knowing me. Well, not as much as before.  
"Honey, can you help me out a bit?" Mum's in the laundry room, emptying out the last of our stuff.  
"Sure! Coming!" I keep aside my algebra homework and go and help her out.  
"So? How'd it go today?" I sigh. I knew she'd ask.  
"It was just school."  
"Come on, tell me about one class."  
"Okay, um, history was good."  
"Really? The teacher seems kind of eccentric." Eccentric didn't really cover it. He was full on WEIRD.  
"Yeah, he was."  
"Okay, look, it's not perfect."  
"Duh." She ignores my remark and my eye roll.  
"But we're lucky. You know it's hard to find a position in the middle of the school year."  
"So does that mean we're lucky that the previous drama teacher died?" It's her turn to roll her eyes.  
"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." I smile, thinking of all the times she's told me this, and then of History, when Simon said the same thing. And then it hits me. Why Simon looked familiar. He looked like Rebecca, my once best friend. I go into another flashback. The worst one. The one where I lost my best friend.  
 _"I thought we were best friends. What's your problem?"  
"Rebecca what….?"  
"I can't believe you stabbed me in the back like this. I trusted you."  
'Rebecca I don't know what…."  
"Of all the people I can't believe you went and did that."  
"I didn't …."  
"Get out of my sight, loser."_

"Honey, are you ok? Clary? Say something." Mum's voice pulls me out. I shiver, ready to burst into tears.  
"I'm fine." She catches the quiver in my voice.  
"Another flashback?" I nod, holding back tears. She comes and gives me a hug. And for once, with this selfish, selfish mind, I'm glad I'm not doing this alone.

JOCELYN

I'm back at work, and getting out of the car. I've settled into my routine now, so I know that Luke's van would be pulling in in about five minutes. We'd formally met a few days back, and despite his queerness, he was a nice guy.  
"Hey." He's come early.  
"Hi," I say, pulling out my stuff from the car. We usually walk up to the school together.  
We walk up the slope in silence. Suddenly, I trip over a rock. I don't fall, but all my stuff does. I curse myself inwardly. Clumsiness ISN'T one of my genes, and I don't want a nice guy who I've just met to think otherwise. I bend down and start picking up my stuff.  
"WHOA. What. Is. That." Luke is looking down with amazement in his eyes. I see him looking at the dress I'd put in in the morning, to check out whether my Olivia would fit in it or not. It was a pretty dress, deep blue with sequins, but I didn't see why it looked so amazing.  
"It's just a dress. I got it to see whether one of my students could use it for the play." He's still staring at it with that same look.  
"Wow, you've taken such good care of it."  
"Thank you?" I don't know how else to reply to that. By now, we've reached the school, and we part ways at the doors.  
-

CLARY

"Hey, pick it up!"  
The "popular" guys are back to what they do all the time – bullying others. I sigh as I look at them as they torment others. This has become a daily routine here – me, sitting under a tree at the edge of the grounds, not very far away from the people despise; watching them, but not being able to do anything because I need to "keep my head down." I resist the urge to go and slap each one of them and their ugly little faces, and put my stuff down. I look around at the campus. It's huge compared to my old school. It has three buildings, and a lot of empty space and gardens. There is something which I presume is an amphitheatre on one end, that is facing a grey-stoned fort which seems to extend forever into a forest behind it. I make up my mind to go explore it sometime. I hear a few more shouts from the table.  
"You've got to give them some credit. They DO know how to have fun." I look up and see Simon there. He's been trying to talk to me ever since I ran away from him after history, and I've been trying to avoid him. Not that I have anything against him, it's just people in general. But he's not going to give up. I sigh internally and look up at him. He sits down next to me.  
"So….. You don't want to get noticed around here, do you? You barely talk, you're out of the class the second the bell rings, you literally avoid everything that's alive, you wear those plain clothes even though you really want to wear better ones, and you hide your face all the time with that hideous hoodie."  
What. WHAT.  
"Are you stalking me?"  
"No no no no no. Don't get the wrong idea, I'm not a creep or anything, I'm just good at reading people. My friend and I used to have little competitions all the time about who could guess everything about a random stranger, so I'm kinda good at this now. I know everything about everyone here, but you're new. So I took a shot. How right am I?"  
I stare at him.  
"I'm not hitting on you. You're not my type, frankly."  
I stare at him.  
"Are you serious? Did EVERY guy in your old school have other intentions when he spoke to you? I am NOT interested in you." OK then. Maybe he's serious.  
"I believe you, fine. But for the record, my hoodie is NOT ugly." He's nice enough, and I need a friend here. In fact, he reminds me of myself before the INCIDENT.  
"Point noted." He smiles at me. The most genuine smile I've ever seen. And from this moment, I know that I have a friend here. How genuine that smile really was, I don't know. I guess I'll find out.

That day goes by pretty well, until we get to history. I go to the class with Simon, only to find an empty room. There's a message scrawled on the board – class cancelled. Huh. There is no substitute either. Mr Graymark must have become unexpectedly sick.  
"Oh yeah, that happens a lot. Like, at least once a month. Usually he leaves us assignments though."  
"But they don't have a substitute?"  
"Nahh. Mr Graymark doesn't like substitutes, and Ms Penhallow usually lets him get away with holidays like that. Some illness, I guess. But, as you've seen, his teaching methods are – "  
"Eccentric?"  
"Yeah, you could say so. Let's just call them – different. But the last time we had a substitute, it was CHAOS. He tried to teach us about some war, and NOT A SINGLE PERSON could pay any attention. Ms Penhallow tried lots of times, to find a substitute who'd be able to teach like Mr. Graymark, but, well, he's one of a kind."  
"Cool." I smile at Simon.  
I've figured out that we have a lot in common – both of us love the same books, the same TV shows, and both of us are into video games. He is also into a lot of tech stuff, while I am into art. He has even offered to showcase some of my paintings in an online exhibition held by his uncle. It would be pretty big for me. We sit outside, and he shows me the basic layout of the website.  
"So there was this virus on the site, and my uncle couldn't figure out where it was coming from. So he called me and – "  
"WHOOPS." Someone comes and shuts the laptop. It's Jace. I feel like ripping his head off, but I contain myself.  
" Looks like SOMEONE will need to do everything all over again." I smirk to myself, getting the satisfaction of knowing that Jace IS actually just looks, no brains.  
"Looks like SOMEONE didn't pay attention in middle school when we were taught about to AUTOSAVE. Too busy looking in the mirror?"  
He looks at me first with disgust, then confusion, and then something that I can't make out. Was that… pity? No. it couldn't be pity. I push that out of my head.  
"Whatever." He walks off. What is his deal?

"So, Simon, tell me more."

 **A/N: Yes, I know it's really short, but at least it's something! I promise the next update will be in a week. My terminals just got over so I'm kinda free now. Please review and tell me what you think!**

 **-ExterminateTheButterflies**


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